3 Officers' Deaths Turn Charity Event Somber

By CRAIG WOLFF

Published: November 16, 1989

As New York City and its Police Department reeled from the shock of losing three officers in two days, dozens of widows of other police officers and firefighters and scores of officials gathered last night to pay their respects and share their own sense of suffering. The event was the fourth annual dinner to benefit the New York City Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Fund.

''The blood rushed out of me this week,'' one of the widows, Grace Ann Machate, said as she attended the $400-a-plate dinner at the Sheraton Centre. Her husband, Robert, a patrol officer, was killed last March while on duty in St. Albans, Queens. ''But this week I also knew it was important to come. It was my duty this week.''

Never before had the dinner occurred at such a wrenching time. Never had the mood been so somber and the conviction to help the families so strong.

''All these businessmen and officials get together each year, but it's usually an abstraction,'' said Police Commissioner Richard J. Condon. ''But I think this year, even for all the police here, this dinner hits home in a different way. Our awareness is heightened now, and that's putting it mildly.'' 'Like a Son to Me'

Officer Gary C. Coe, who was stabbed to death last Saturday after a minor traffic accident while he was off-duty, was buried Tuesday.

Yesterday in Wantagh, L.I., hundreds of people attended the wake of Detective Richard J. Guerzon, who was killed with his partner, Detective Keith L. Williams, while they were transporting a prisoner on Monday.

''Richie was like a son to me,'' said Jack Bartel, one of the mourners at the wake yesterday.

Detective Guerzon, who was 46 years old, and his wife, Madeline, have two sons, age 4 and 6 years old. He has two other sons, now in their 20's, by his first wife, who died of cancer. #3 Funerals in a Week Services for Detective Guerzon will be held at 11 A.M. today at Cure of Ars Roman Catholic Church in Merrick. On Saturday, the department will hold Detective Williams's funeral, its third one of the week.

About midway through the dinner last night, David N. Dinkins appeared to say that he was ''saddened and outraged'' by the deaths of Detectives Guerzon and Williams, who was 34.

The Mayor-elect said that despite published reports to the contrary, he had always planned to attend Detective Williams's funeral and that he had spoken to his widow.

The New York Post and Daily News reported yesterday that Mr. Dinkins had planned to leave for vacation before the funeral. 'Should be Put Away Forever'

''I'm determined to return the rule of law,'' Mr. Dinkins said, adding that the man who shot the two detectives ''should be put away forever.''

The remark drew applause, but some widows said it did not go far enough.

''There should be an eye for an eye,'' said Dolores Taylor, whose husband, Joseph, a detective, was killed 12 years ago when he approached the door of an apartment and a man sprang out and fired at him with a shotgun. ''It's just that these things are happening too often, more and more, and we've got to do something.''

The affair this year, most people agreed, was especially poignant. Beneath the crystal chandeliers of the hotel's Imperial Room, Mayor Edward I. Koch came to say farewell, and several widows said they would miss him. 'We'll Stand By Her'

Rusty Staub, a former New York Met, who is one of the founders and chief organizers of the dinner, acted as master of ceremonies. He went from table to table, talking with the widows.

Mr. Staub said part of his inspiration for the dinners came from an uncle who was killed while serving on the New Orleans police force.